Sorry for the late update! Thank you guys for staying with me! :D Hope you guys like it

"Mikan?" A familiar voice called in the darkness. Mikan spun around and searched the endless shadows for the owner of the voice.

"Oi, wake up already." A different voice called this time, both sounding so familiar and her heart ached just listening to them. She wanted to leave this place. It was dark, and so very, very cold.

"I'm here!" She screamed, but her voice only drifted off and she couldn't hear anything anymore.

"Please, please come save me."

"The hell are you talking about?" Her eyes fluttered open at the cold voice and the first thing she saw was the white ceiling. Shifting her eyes sideways slowly, she saw both Hotaru and Natsume sitting at the side of her bed.

"Are you alright?" Hotaru asked as Mikan tried to sit up on the bed. She nodded as she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Good." Hotaru stated before pulling out her Baka Canon. "Then I'll give you a good beating for making me so worried." Mikan cowered away in fear.

"Mikan!" Anna, Nono and Sumire barged into the room, worry etched on their faces as they rushed to her bedside.

"How did I get here? What happened?" Mikan asked as the girls stiffened and straightened.

"After we heard a strange noise in your room and came to check, Hotaru figured something happened to you. When we went back to your room, you were already gone." Nono started as Anna nodded along.

"I figured Hyuuga would know something, as he is in the DA class. And as expected, he got an anonymous phone call about your location." Hotaru added in her usual monotone.

"Anonymous call?" Mikan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and Natsume nodded.

"Though I'm more than 100% sure it was Koko who made that phone call." Natsume stated and Mikan became more confused.

"He wanted to kill me though." She whispered, looking down at her clenched hands that lay on her lap.

"But he didn't." Hotaru stated. "It is estimated that you were there for at least half an hour before we came. That's plenty of time to kill a person if they really wanted to, and yet he used up his time just talking to you."

"But Mikan has wounds on her!" Anna countered, pointing at Mikan's bandaged neck.

"They're just small scratches. Barely enough to harm her." Hotaru walked over to the bed and sat down next to Mikan.

"I've done some research and Persona, the teacher of the DA class, might be ordering Koko and the old DA class to target you because of your alices." Hotaru explained, her face emotionless as she held Mikan's hand in her own.

"That's right. The Nullification Alice and the SEC Alice are both incredibly rare and can be very useful in future missions." Natsume added.

"But I wonder why Koko's second alice was never revealed to public." Nono asked curiously, putting a finger against her chin.

"Neither was his name. I mean, they always called him 'Tsukaite no Kōri.'" Anna joined in, thinking deeply.

"I think…" Mikan started quietly, and all eyes fell on her. "I think it's most likely what Koko wanted. Even though he was away for so long, he wished no one knew about his new alice and his nickname so no one would treat him differently."

"Mikan," Hotaru called calmly. "You know something about him, right? Why he left and how he came to this school, etc."

"That's right. You guys are childhood friends, after all." Natsume narrowed his eyes.

Mikan fidgeted with her fingers as she avoided eye contact with them. "We grew up in the same village, and even when we were really little, his alice was already really strong. He would always accidentally freeze whatever he touches and got into lots of trouble because of that. We were sent to the academy when we were only eight." Sumire nodded in agreement.

"One day, these people came and we were taken to a isolated part of the academy. They told us about missions and how rare our alices were." Mikan shivered unconsciously.

"Those guys were really scary; their faces were cold and their voices held no emotion. They were like robots. Koko refused them and I was too scared to do anything, but then they started dragging us into their car. Out of panic, Koko unleashed his alice and managed to loosen the man's grip on me, but I was quickly captured again. Koko told them that he would work extra hard for them, but in return I was not to have anything to do with the DA class." Mikan tucked her knees against her chin.

"He blames me. It's my fault he was taken." Tears welled up in her eyes. "He went to protect me, but I never thought—" She sobbed. "I never thought he would want to kill me."

"I'm more than a hundred percent sure he doesn't want to kill you though." Hotaru stated matter-of-factly.

"Two things prove that. The phone call, and the wasting of time." She lifted two of her fingers for emphasis.

"The academy probably thinks of your alice as a threat—you know, rebellion or whatever—and that's why they're ordering their best assassin to kill you before that happens." Natsume grumbled.

"Most likely." Hotaru agreed as the others nodded. The door clicked open and all of them turned their heads towards the sound.

"Yomi." Natsume's hard voice echoed in the silent room. The dirty blonde walked in carelessly and relaxed, his usual smile still present.

"Yo!" He greeted casually, holding his hand up.

"You!" Sumire stomped up to him furiously until they were only a breath away. "You do all these things to her, and now you have the audacity to show up here as if you own the place?" She asked incredulously and Koko still looked as relaxed as ever, unfazed.

"I've done nothing wrong." He stated simply and confidently.

"What did you say—" Sumire started but Hotaru pushed her away gently and took her spot in front of Koko. "That anonymous phone call to Hyuuga, it was you, wasn't it? There were no traces, but it's a logical guess."

"Oh?" Koko seemed surprised. "And why is it logical?"

"Because no one else knows her location but you," Natsume walked up to him as well, looking at him dead in the eye, "who was also there with her."

"Oh my, my." Koko gasped sarcastically. "I'm shivering from fear now, Hyuuga." Then, turning from Natsume and Hotaru, he turned to face the other four girls.

"Well, there's no point in hiding it." He shrugged uncaringly. "Yep, I was the who made that phone call. I purposely told Persona that I wanted a personal talk with her to waste time."

"Why?" Mikan whispered quietly. "Didn't you say you hated me?"

"What else could I have said with Persona eavesdropping?" Koko ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. "If he finds out I called you guys and saved her, I'm going to be in big trouble."

"So?" Sumire crossed her arms as Koko gave her a blank look.

"What are we going to do now?" Anna and Nono asked unanimously, giving each other brief glances. "The academy wants to kill Mikan, Koko needs to follow Persona's order…"

"Then…" Koko grinned, his eyes glittering and Mikan gulped unconsciously. "How about we escape from the school?"

"That's insane." Natsume hissed disapprovingly. "There's no way you can get out of here."

"Relax." Koko cooed. "I know the academy like the back of my hand. You and I both know that we can get out during missions, no?" Natsume nodded grumpily.

"We can just sneak out during a mission." He grinned like a Cheshire cat, looking awfully proud of himself.

"Well, I guess that works." Sumire stated but Anna and Nono seemed skeptically about the decision.

"But aren't missions really dangerous?" Nono scrunched up her nose.

"Besides, Mikan isn't even in the DA class." Anna added quickly as Koko scoffed.

"Just follow my lead." He winked.

Thank you, AJSan17, for reviewing as well as the two guests! :D I'm glad you guys like the story so far. I think there's only a few more chapters left, so please hang around a little more! ^.^

R&R Please!